This brief focuses on Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waivers related to implementation of the ACA Medicaid expansion (eligible for ACA enhanced matching funds) or other coverage (not eligible for ACA enhanced matching funds). To date, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved waivers to implement the Medicaid expansion in five states: Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan, Pennsylvania and most recently Indiana. In addition, Pennsylvania has a waiver proposal. In addition, New Hampshire has a proposal pending with CMS, and Governors in both Tennessee and Utah have been negotiating plans with CMS, but these plans also need to be approved by the state legislature.

This fact sheet provides an overview of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center)’s State Innovation Models (SIM) initiative. It focuses on the delivery system and payment approaches that Model Testing states are taking and discusses what SIM means for Medicaid. Six states – Arkansas, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Oregon, and Vermont — received Model Testing awards to implement and test their Innovation Plans over 42 months.

This brief focuses on Section 1115 Medicaid demonstration waivers related to implementation of the ACA Medicaid expansion (eligible for ACA enhanced matching funds) or other coverage (not eligible for ACA enhanced matching funds). To date, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved waivers to implement the Medicaid expansion in three states: Arkansas, Iowa and Michigan. In addition, Pennsylvania has a waiver proposal.

This state report explains how the ACA expands coverage in Arkansas, including a breakdown of how many uninsured people are eligible for Medicaid, how many are eligible for financial assistance to help them buy private insurance in the new Marketplace and how many will not receive any financial assistance at all. The report also details, in specific dollar figures, the income levels at which people in Arkansas are eligible for Medicaid or financial assistance in the Marketplace. For states not expanding Medicaid, the report quantifies how many uninsured people fall into the “coverage gap,” meaning they will be ineligible for financial assistance in the Marketplace or for Medicaid in their state despite having an income below the federal poverty level.

To help states launch the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion and efficiently enroll eligible individuals, CMS has offered states a series of facilitated enrollment options. These options include strategies, referred to as “fast track enrollment” in this issue brief, that allow states to enroll eligible individuals into coverage using data already available from their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance programs (SNAP) and/or their Medicaid or Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) programs for children. This issue brief provides an overview of the new “fast track” enrollment options, including how they have been implemented, their impacts, and key lessons learned. It is based on a series of interviews with state officials in Arkansas, Illinois, Oregon and West Virginia conducted by Manatt Health Solutions and the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured in October 2013.

As of October 29, 2013 Establishing the Marketplace On December 12, 2012, Governor Mike Beebe (D) informed federal officials that Arkansas would pursue a state-federal partnership health insurance Marketplace (also referred to as exchange).1 A state opting for a partnership Marketplace can choose to operate plan management functions, consumer…